Flavius Paulinus (''floruit'' 498–511) was a Roman politician during the reign of

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

, and was appointed

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

for the year 498.

Life

Paulinus was appointed consul in 498, sharing the office with the Eastern consul,

John the Hunchback John the Hunchback or John Gibbo (Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Κυρτός; ; fl. 492–499) was a general and a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire. Biography John was a native of Selymbria, modern Silivri in Turkey. Between 492 and 499, he ...

. In 510 Paulinus became a '' patricius''. Between 507 and 511

Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus (died 526) was a 6th-century Roman aristocrat, a historian and a supporter of Nicene Christianity. He was a patron of secular learning, and became the consul for the year 485. He supported Pope Symmachus in th ...

and

Rufius Postumius Festus Rufius Postumius Festus ( 472–507) was a Roman aristocrat who lived during the Late Roman Empire. Festus was the last consul appointed by an Emperor in the West. The next consul appointed in the West was Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, whom kin ...

brought a lawsuit against Paulinus at Rome, but the actual accusation is unknown.Cassiodorus, ''Variae'' I.23; translated by S.J.B. Barnish, ''Cassiodorus: Variae'' (Liverpool: University Press, 1992), p. 17 Paulinus was a friend and a supporter of

Pope Felix III Pope Felix III (died 1 March 492) was the bishop of Rome from 13 March 483 to his death on 1 March 492. His repudiation of the '' Henotikon'' is considered the beginning of the Acacian schism. He is commemorated on March 1. Family Felix was born ...

. King Theodoric of the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

gave him all the unused barns of Rome. Some scholars have identified Paulinus with the "ex-consul Paulinus" referred to by

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

in his ''De consolatio phililosophiae'' (I.4.13), whose properties Boethius had defended from the avarice of certain courtiers. If so, then these unnamed courtiers would not have included Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, who was Boethius' father-in-law.

Life

References

Further reading